Blagojevich to Name Obama Senate Replacement

Russian analyst predicts total societal collapse

by Mark Steyn | the corner | National Review online | Tuesday, December 30, 2008

No, not of Russia, silly! Of the United States. Further to John Fonte's post below on the "war over the nature of American national identity", Professor Igor Panarin (also in The Wall Street Journal) cranks it up to a whole new level:

Mr. Panarin posits, in brief, that mass immigration, economic decline, and moral degradation will trigger a civil war next fall and the collapse of the dollar. Around the end of June 2010, or early July, he says, the U.S. will break into six pieces...

So make sure you cash your bailout check before Whoa! Looks like we're going to need a much bigger bailout! So who gets what?

California will form the nucleus of what he calls "The Californian Republic," and will be part of China or under Chinese influence. Texas will be the heart of "The Texas Republic," a cluster of states that will go to Mexico or fall under Mexican influence. Washington, D.C., and New York will be part of an "Atlantic America" that may join the European Union. Canada will grab a group of Northern states Prof. Panarin calls "The Central North American Republic." Hawaii, he suggests, will be a protectorate of Japan or China, and Alaska will be subsumed into Russia.

I see from the Journal's colorful map that New Hampshire will be part of the European Union. So on December 30th in two years' time instead of posting in the saltmines of The Corner I'll be midway through the mandatory EU two-week Christmas vacation. There's always an upside.

the video YouTube doesn't want you to see

IAF Attack on Hamas Vehicle Loaded with Grad Missiles Eng. 29/12/08

Hamas supporters are using the flagging feature to have these videos removed from YouTube.

IDF launches YouTube Gaza channel

IDF youtube channel

In the midst of its Gaza operations, the IDF is entering yet another conflict zone: the Internet. The Israeli army announced yesterday the creation of its own YouTube channel, through which it will disseminate footage of precision bombing operations in the Gaza Strip, as well as aid distribution and other footage of interest to the international community.

"The blogosphere and new media are another war zone," said IDF Foreign Press Branch head Maj. Avital Leibovich. "We have to be relevant there."

quote

If someone was sending rockets on my house where my daughters were sleeping at night, I would do everything to stop it, and I would expect Israelis to do the same thing. --Barack Obama

Missile's eye view -- Israeli navy release footage of attack

Israel Navy attacks Hamas positions in Gaza.....missile's eye view of events as they unfold.

Typhoon Stabilized Marine Gun System

IAF Release Cockpit Footage Of Airstrikes Along The Philadelphi Route

Airsrikes on tunnels and rocket launching sites.

1st Hit : Tunnel entrance rocket launching site.

2nd and 3rd Hit : Rocket launch sites.

4th Hit : Attack on weapon storage facilities,secondary explosions caused by stored rockets at the site.

Hamas legislators legalize crucifixion

Column One: The 'realist' fantasy
By CAROLINE GLICK
Jerusalem Post | Dec 25, 2008 23:11 | Updated Dec 26, 2008 18:15

Both Iran and its Hamas proxy in Gaza have been busy this Christmas week showing Christendom just what they think of it. But no one seems to have noticed.

On Tuesday, Hamas legislators marked the Christmas season by passing a Shari'a criminal code for the Palestinian Authority. Among other things, it legalizes crucifixion.

Hamas's endorsement of nailing enemies of Islam to crosses came at the same time it renewed its jihad. Here, too, Hamas wanted to make sure that Christians didn't feel neglected as its fighters launched missiles at Jewish day care centers and schools. So on Wednesday, Hamas lobbed a mortar shell at the Erez crossing point into Israel just as a group of Gazan Christians were standing on line waiting to travel to Bethlehem for Christmas.

read the whole thing

US Military ready to turn on its own citizens?

US ARMY READY IF THE DOWNTURN GETS OUT OF HAND

updated: 3:51 am | December 23, 2008 | Posted: 2:57 am | December 23, 2008
by John Crudele | New York Post

ARE you afraid that the economic downturn could get out of hand? I mean, really out of hand?

Well, don't worry.

The US Army War College is on the case - ready to handle "unforeseen economic collapse" and the "rapid dissolution of public order in all or significant parts of the US."

And you thought we were just dealing with a recession!

In a report published Nov. 4 - just in time for the holiday season - the War College's Strategic Studies Institute posited a number of shocks that the country should be prepared for, including unrest caused by the economy's failure.

The report has a snappy title, "Known Unknowns: Unconventional 'Strategic Shocks' in Defense Strategy Development," and was written by Nathan Freier, a visiting professor at the college. The foreword was written by Col. John A. Kardos, director of the Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute.

Freier lists a number of possible things we should worry about - because we probably don't have enough of our own - including run-of-the-mill terrorism and the fact that China and Russia could align against us politically and economically.

"Some of the most plausible defense-relevant strategic shocks remain low-probability events," Freier soft-pedals before going on to scare the hell out of us.

The War College says "widespread civil violence inside the US would force the defense establishment to reorient priorities in extremis to defend basic domestic order and human security."

Among things Freier wants us to worry about are "deliberate employment of weapons of mass destruction. . . unforeseen economic collapse, loss of functioning political and legal order, purposeful domestic resistance or insurgency and catastrophic natural and human disasters."

Oh, and by the way, have a Merry Christmas!

off topic but fun: Mac vs. PC